Senior Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Print Media, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz has said the Federal Government is undertaking road projects across the country based on the economic benefits of such infrastructure to the Nigerian people.
The presidential aide stated this on Monday, when he
appeared as a guest on ‘The Morning Brief’, a programme on Channels Television.
His remarks are in response to allegations by the
presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, in the 2023
general election, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Kwankwaso had said that the Tinubu government diverts scarce
resources to develop road projects in southern Nigeria, where he hails from, at
the expense of northern Nigeria.
Abdulaziz, however, stated that all projects by the Tinubu
administration are national in outlook, stressing that the government hasn’t
been unfair to any region of the country.
“We should look at things as national projects and not as
northern or southern projects, which is a major problem. The most important
thing is what value the projects bring and not because they are sited in the
North or the South. What are the economic benefits of these roads?
“Of course, there is the need for justice, there is the need
for fairness, which I am sure nobody could accuse this government of being
unfair to the North or being unfair to the South because projects are being
sited equally,” the presidential aide stated.
Abdulaziz also faulted the claim by Kwankwaso that the
Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road has been abandoned by the current administration, adding
that works have begun on the road which is vital for connectivity in the
North-West geopolitical zone of the country.
According to him, the ongoing Sokoto-Badagry Road has a
significant portion in northern Nigeria, and it is equivalent to the
Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, which is situated in the southern region.
